He handed her the menus. “Choose.”

She drew in a breath and then looked down. “They make the naan fresh. And the samosas are excellent. I have beer that’ll go with it. Shall I order then? Do you have any preferences?”

If she had been just five years older, he’d feel so much better about the way his cock seemed to want to bust through his zipper when she’d simply obeyed. Ordering women around was fine – and sometimes it was scorching hot.

But there was something deeper between him and PJ. Normally, though he expected exclusivity when he was sleeping with someone, he didn’t get bound up when things ended. But he had a deeper attachment to her already. One he was still wary of.

Too late for second-guessing. He was there in her apartment and they both knew why.

“Surprise me. I’m not vegetarian.”

She called in the order and opened her fridge. “Want a beer out on the deck? It’s a nice view and it’s pretty warm for late May.”

He nodded and followed her out, where she settled on an outdoor couch of sorts. He took the beer she handed his way when he sat beside her.

“Thanks.”

They drank in silence for a while as late evening settled in around them.

“How long have you lived here?”

“Three years now. I came over to hang out with Audra and saw the ‘For Rent’ sign, and that was that. I’ve lived in a giant house, and in a tiny studio, shared apartments, but this is the first place that’s felt like home.”

“Home is good. Important. I feel that way about Seattle in general. I didn’t grow up here.”

“The accent sort of gives it away.”

He laughed. “You can take the boy out of Texas, but the accent seems to live on. I grew up in Houston. And then in the army I lived in Iraq, and as fucked up as my old neighborhood was, believe me, living in a place where every day people tried to kill me was worse. And after I got out I landed here with an uncle. I hadn’t planned to stay, just work awhile, get an idea of what I was going to do, but it was like I just relaxed. I loved the rain and the gray and the green.”

He hadn’t meant to share all that.

PJ nodded. “I get to travel a lot. It’s one of my favorite things. But every time the plane approaches SeaTac I’m so happy.”

Neither spoke for a while. Her perfume rose and he leaned close to breathe her in where shoulder met neck. She tipped her head back, giving him access.

He was damned the moment his lips touched her throat. This was exactly where they’d been headed since the first time he’d laid eyes on her at that party months earlier.

Her fingers sifted through his hair and then she yanked, demanding. Groaning, he managed to get his beer on the table before taking her mouth.

PJ swung a leg up and straddled his lap to face him and he hissed at the heat of her as she undulated, rolling her hips.

He nipped her bottom lip, holding her close as he sucked her tongue and then backed off, licking slow until she’d melted against him. Then he nipped her lip again and kissed his way down to her chin and up her jaw to her left ear.

She made a sound.

A low moan. Needy.

“Shhh. Trust me to get you there. Now that I know you like this…” He licked the hollow beneath her ear again to underline his point. “Well, now that I know it makes you give me that sound? I’ll be sure to do it again and again.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Promise?”

He laughed. “Oh yes.”

“All right then. Get to it. But not too hard because the delivery guy will be here soon.”

Well, that sucked.

Since he was already violating his rules, he might as well enjoy it. He needed to remember he had a lot more experience than this silly flailing indicated.

“All right. Let’s see just what we can get up to before anyone knocks on your door.” He cupped one of her breasts through her blouse and she arched into his touch.

Just right. Everything was just right. The right size. The way she reacted was right. The weight of her on his lap, the way she smelled, her taste, everything.

Not willing to let go of her breast, he used his free hand at her waist to hold her in place. “I’m wondering how long it takes to make you come, PJ.”

“You’re already past the surface streets and on the freeway,” she said in his ear before she sucked the lobe into her mouth.

He shivered. “Good to know.”

She did that thing again, undulating so she ground herself against him, and the power between them shifted as she began to own her allure. She was confident and certainly not hesitant about demanding what she wanted, but this was new.

He dug it.

Warm flesh greeted his caress when the hand he’d had at her waist slid beneath her shirt and across her back.

“Do you have ink back here?” he asked, stroking fingertips over her skin.

“I’ll show you if you like.”

He certainly did like.

The doorbell rang twice and he groaned, standing and holding her like she weighed nothing.

“Food’s here.”

Hormones made her slightly woozy for a moment as she worked to get herself back in order.

“I’ll handle it.” He put her down carefully, and they both headed back into the apartment.

He walked like he was in pain, which she supposed if she had a penis she’d understand. “Why don’t you relax a little? Drink your beer,” PJ said.

He gave her a look that approached an eye roll as he continued toward the door. But she let it pass because he was hotter than the sun and she’d finally gotten him nearly to her bed. Also, she realized Asa was a handful. Like the other alpha males she knew, he’d have to be managed without realizing he was being managed.